Suspend those holds!

If you have requested an item that has not yet become available, but you know you are going to be out of town,  call the Circulation Department and ask them to "suspend your hold." What this means is you won't go to the bottom of the list, but if your item comes in, it will bump down the next person. You will resume your spot at the top of the queue when you'll be back in town.

Also, keep in mind that many of your favorite holiday books and movies have a 3-week check out period. Be sure to plan ahead if you want to check these items out!

New releases often have a 1-week check out period. This is not hard and fast though, as we use a ratio of the number of copies we have vs. the number of people on the hold list. Don't worry - you don't have to understand this, just know you may have a new release for only one week, but we certainly try to extend that time whenever possible.

 

Bring Your Library Card With You This Friday!

Please remember to bring your library card or keychain card to the library with you on Friday, May 11. On that day, we won't be able to look you up by name to check out library materials or make changes to your account. We should be functioning as usual by Saturday.

Renew Your Library Cards

Unused library cards are periodically deleted from our database. Cards for Brentwood residents must be renewed every 2 years & out of city resident cards must be renewed annually. In order to renew an account, cardholder must be present, have proof of address (driver's license, checkbook, voter's registration, utility bill, etc.) and if applicable, provide out of city fee payment - cash or check only.

Got holds?

We've been getting patron requests to streamline our holds notification process ever since we began emailing those notices out, and we do like to make our patrons happy!

Starting August 20, patrons with an email address on file will only receive notices about newly available holds by email. This will prevent you from getting both a call and an email about the same hold. It will also help the library to be more efficient in handling holds.

Going forward, we'll still make calls about available holds for patrons who don't have an email address on file. If you do have an email address on file but prefer to also get a call, feel free to email me and I'll be happy to make that happen for you.

Please also email me if you have any feedback on this, or if you want to have me check on the email address you have on file in preparation for this change. We're glad to be here to serve you!

Less time in line, more time to read!

There's a great article in the Brentwood Journal this week about the self-checkout stations we're installing this summer.

We'll still have two traditional checkout stations, plus six enhanced self-checkout stations. This will make a major difference during times when we normally have long lines at the Circulation desk. As the article mentions, our self-checkout system will use a special type of radio frequency technology that will allow you to place several items on a pad (we're recommending no more than 3 at a time) and have them all check out to you automatically. If you've ever wrestled with getting a barcode to scan in a grocery or home improvement store self-checkout station, you'll really appreciate how much easier our system will be to use.

I'd love to know what you think of these exciting new services - please send me an email if you have comments or questions!

Renewal limits increased!

Even my dog is excited about this! I've got good news for those of you with busy lives, or a penchant for very long books.

Our renewal limits have increased! Here's how it works:

• Anything that could be renewed once before can now be renewed twice.
  

• Anything that couldn't be renewed at all before (like new fiction) still isn't renewable.

You can renew online anytime through the library's website (click on Enter My Account in the middle of the home page, then choose My Account from the top menu to get started) or by calling 371-0090, ext. 807 during regular service hours.

Check out more DVDs!

You can now check out up to 4 DVDs per library card!



Celebrate by picking up one of your favorites today.

Some staff favorites:

Proof
Iron Giant
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
Shawshank Redemption


The Princess Bride
The fifth element
Foyle's War
The Proposal
Amazing Grace
Last of the Mochicans
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Elizabeth I

Nearly 11,000 Items Borrowed Last Week!

We had another busy week at the library, with 10,848 items checked out and 11,090 items returned. Most of those checkouts were for four popular types of materials:

• 980 adult nonfiction books


• 998 adult fiction books
  


• 2,252 DVDs


• 3,848 children's books

Image "Books, books, books, books, books, books, and books." by kennymatic.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/2510060169/